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SPECIAL REPORT - Report
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Top 100 banks.
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This month The Middle East proudly presents its annual Top 100 Middle Eastern banks ranking. This year--a particularly eventful one in the region's banking and finance--we have invited two highly regarded international economic experts, Neil Ford and Moin Siddiqi, to record their observations, based on the results of our specially commissioned rankings, global trends and patterns of international recovery. Their remarks provide a fascinating overview. AFTER THE DOOM AND GLOOM OF THE GLOBAL financial crisis, our survey of the Top 100 Middle East Banks reveals a steady recovery among the region's financial institutions over the past 12 months. While the biggest banks in Saudi Arabia and the UAE continue to dominate the upper echelons of the table, the real story at the bottom end of the rankings, where much greater strength in depth is apparent than in our 2009 survey. Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank (NCB) retains top spot with capital of $7.6bn, up from $7.3bn last year, but with an increased lead over its nearest rival. However, last year's second- and third-placed banks, Al Rajhi Bank and Riyadh Bank, also both of Saudi Arabia, have fallen down our ranking as Emirates NBD and First Gulf Bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have climbed into second and fourth positions respectively. First Gulf Bank, in particular, has enjoyed a very successful year, with capital growth from $4.5bn in our 2009 survey to $6bn just 12 months later, helping to push the company six places up our table. First Gulf Bank announced net profits of AED 1,707 million ($465 million) for the first half of 2010, 12% up on the same period last year. A spokesperson for the company commented: "The increase in revenue was largely attributed to the net interest and Islamic financing, which increased by 13% from AED 1,833 million ($499 million) in the first half of 2009 to AED 2,080 million ($566 million) in the first half of 2010." The company is also becoming increasingly active in project financing, forming part of the bank...See the full content of this document
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